Could be either way Wolfgang - maybe the hatchet-men employed by politicians don't overstep the mark very often, and when they do they normally get caught; or perhaps they do it much of the time and get away with it except on rare ocasions.

The second option just seems more likely to me, in the light of how people seem to behave in most settings. I'm not assuming politicians and their agents are worse than the rest of us, just very reluctant to assume they are better.